Coolant AGAIN!!

[shokenore]

Now I apreciate that this isn't a new thing (2.4s losing water) but please bear with me.
driving truck local roads 30 mph max saw steam coming from bonnet u turn straight home less than 1 mile,found "pin hole " in top of rad .
let cool down and found it took 4 litres to fill back up so it had lost at least 4 litres of coolant.
so after reading the numerous threads about overheating/cracked heads i carried out the following ; took rad cap off and hose off block to bottom radiator flushed through with hose till water ran clear.
stripped skin and flesh from knuckles and arms and took engine fan off and eventually removed radiator .washed through fins to remove any blockages.bunged up outlet and pressurized to check for leaks found leaks on top seam ran solder and rechecked seemed fine.
refitted rad and hose new jubilee clips and carefully refilled the system found water dribbiling out from under condensor bash plate,and found water also on top on condensor
HELP !!!

[Albannach]

What are you asking?

[shokenore]

well after doing all of the above and refilling i have water constantly dribbling from underneath so i was wondering if anyone could give me some pointers as to where to look ? i think i can remember seeing something about the water pump having a tell tale leaking from the bottom of the timing case but was wondering if these engines and cooling systems are prone from leaking anywhere else.
i would prefer to have a concrete answer before opening my wallet and shelling out for rads and water pumps to find it could possibly be the head?

your replies greatly apreciated

[Albannach]

The water pump has a tell tale just behind the pulley. You'll see it dripping from the belt pulley if it's leaking. Any engine can leak from anywhere, check the core plugs though, could be one of those.

[shokenore]

core plugs ? sorry to be a pain but.. where are they and if they are leaking from there i would guess its kinda terminal?
I'm gonna rig up a pressure test on it and see if i can push the water out and trace where its is coming from.
thanks for your response

[Albannach]

Core plugs are metal discs pressed into the side, front and rear of the engine casings. They are fitted into holes that were created during the casing casting process (the holes are machined first!).

[shokenore]

ok after having to have a bit of a sit down (blown core plugs).
filled the system up slowly with just water.
using my hastily improvised pressure tester. my kids pushbike pump with the schraider adapter removed and old spark plug top and the stepped rubber bung for a medicine bottle .
i have taken the rad cap off rammed the bottle adaptor down the hole and pumped away not having any idea idea what pressure i was keeping an eye on the top hose ,when i could see it start to swell i stopped.
i could see the water 1,spraying out of the connections i did yesterday when fitting the repaired rad. (DONT BUY CHEAP JUBILEE CLIPS)
and 2, leaking water from the hoses going to the twin metal pipes feeding the heater matrix? these are still on the original hose clamps.
no water was found to be runnning down the block or from underneath the timing cover.
so shopping list now reads decent jubilee clips and anti freeze and rad cap.

this may explain other peoples mysterious water losses unless you where actually running a finger around these hoses i doubt very much wether you would be able to see the water weeping out .

[Albannach]

leaking water from the hoses going to the twin metal pipes feeding the heater matrix? these are still on the original hose clamps.

Those 2 wee hoses are common failure points.

[tintin]

NOT anti-freeze, you need to FILL the system with red coolant!

[TonyN]

NOT anti-freeze, you need to FILL the system with red coolant!

Anti-freeze...coolant...water, everyone knows what he's talking about.

Red, green, blue, they all work fine, and are all slightly different, and none will stop a head cracking if it gets hot.

[shokenore]

and for the record i got green coolant
and can i say the people down at roughtrax THANK YOU, )

[shokenore]

if any one is interested......
new radiator finally arrived (long story)
fitted new auto box oil cooler of my own design hidden up "behind" front bumper and to the right of the rad fan. this now takes the pumped atf first and then flows into bottom of new rad and then back into auto box.

fitted new rad with new wide hose clips left rad cowl off and fan off .
filled first with water to test for leaks.....changed more hose clips.....
retested and fairly sure all air locks removed, ran truck for short test drive around the block , left the heater on , on the drive back heat output dropped off suspected air locks.
stopped for lunch and to let it all cool down.

after letting it cool down found hoses from heater coolest..... then found that the mrs had taken the surf keys into town with her
drained water disconnected heater hoses and flushed with water hose till all the brown crud stopped.
connected all hoses filled with green coolant and left to allow air to bubble out.
her indoors now back from town with the keys truck started and burped till no more air bubbling out. test drive
found my atf cooler hot to touch and no leaks of either coolant or atf, will check again tomorrow to see if the levels have settled

[charvell]

well done mate hope it sorts it out, tell us more about your atf cooler design

[shokenore]

atf design

on the basis that simple is good,and after seeing the flat plate design of most of the commercial oil coolers i didnt really want one that would be blocking my shiny new radiator plus my version is a bit cheaper
basically i have taken a length of 3/8 copper and formed it around a metal cylinder so in effect you have a "spring" shape i then made sure all the gaps the same ,1/2 block of wood used to check then the free end has been carefully bent round and down to rest on the edge of the coil and this then touches all the bends so i now have the two ends pointing in the same direction a bit of solder on each part where the copper touches to make the coil a bit more rigid and there you go.
then using some 3/8 flexible pipe i have taken the feed from the auto box to my atf cooler then down to the rad and back into the box. where the pipe could touch i have sleeved it for protection.
it is about 8 inches long and about 4 inches in dia.
it fits up in behind the bumper at the front next to the rad fan.
for a mk1 i'm happy with it mk2 is already planned though....this was an execise to see if the atf oil would be passed around and through and back down to the rad.

i would really like to know what the "proper"oil cooler the one hidden in the bottom of the rad consisted of as the mk2 is planned to use 1/4 pipe as i can form that into a tighter coil .....
i suppose a piccy would make more sense

[Bogus]

Sounds like a good job. Now I dont want to rain on your parade, but copper "work hardens" and becomes brittle and liable to crack as it is "worked". As this is on a vehicle that work hardening can be caused by vibration from the engine, the road etc. Theres a good chance your copper cooler will crack somewhere and leak at some point. 3/8th or 1/4 stainless tubing would have been better.

Bogus